2 



THE PINE SNAKE OF NEW JERSEY. 



board taking their eggs and "huckleberries" to the city market. 

 The Pines, so called, had not up to that time been visited by me. 

 "Forrard" of the boat, being the place where the hucksters, 

 farmers and fishermen most did congregate, was a sudden and 

 unusual commotion. One solitary woman held her own in this 

 crowd of men. She was from the Pines, and in her way was an 

 intensely thorough-going business body. She had a wagon-load 

 of eggs and berries, which latter she had bought of the pickers, 

 and on them she expected to " realize " handsomely. The assist- 

 ant captain, an elderly and corpulent man, was collecting the fare. 

 Approaching the female huckster, whom he knew well, he accosted 

 her with " Come, Peggy, your fare." "Yes, Cap'en, but jist hold 

 my comforter till I git my pus out." And in a trice a pair of pine 

 snakes, concealed beneath the woman's shawl, were slung around 

 the captain's neck. The old man's example was electric ! Such 

 accelerated evolutions ! It seemed neck or nothing with every- 

 body but the huckster woman, who sat shaking with laughter. 

 She had retained hold of the reptiles by the tails, so that they 

 were left in her hands. She was taking them to Barnum, who 

 probably would give her a few shillings, and a few tickets to his 

 show. Prof. Baird had just before requested me to get a pair of 

 these reptiles for the Smithsonian. My mind was made up that 

 these should go to the Professor. At this juncture a fisherman 

 whispered into the woman's ear, " Keep your eyes skinned, Aunty, 

 a science man 's around." The woman became at once very exact- 

 ing. I bought the pair at an unreasonable price ; but an acci- 

 dent prevented their ever seeing Washington. They were of 

 both sexes, I think, and were about three and a half feet long. 

 Their harmlessness surprised me. Even my little children played 

 with them. Indeed the late Prof. Torrey, a good many years ago, 

 had a pair that were allowed the freedom of his study floor. The 

 female of my pair laid seven eggs, each about five-eighths of an 

 inch long. From their size they must have been premature. 



Three summers ago a friend captured a fine female specimen 

 and sent me. It was in good condition, nearly six feet in length, 

 and as thick as my wrist. To my surprise the beast was incorri- 

 gibly irritable; and kept up a vicious blowing, and darting at me, 

 each time hitting her nose against the glass cover of her box, so 

 that, much to my grief, she knocked off the hard scale on the tip 

 of her snout. The cause of this unexpected conduct was not far 



